Former All-Pro LB Fredd Young dies at 64
Fredd Young, a Pro Bowl linebacker who shaped the Seattle Seahawks' early years as a franchise cornerstone, has died at age 64. Young was drafted 76th overall in 1984 and made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons before a 1988 trade to Indianapolis.
Fredd Young, a foundational linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks and Pro Bowl selection across his four-year tenure with the franchise, has died at age 64, according to Yahoo Sports.
Young was drafted 76th overall by Seattle in 1984 out of New Mexico State. He made the Pro Bowl in each season from 1984 through 1987, earning AP first-team All-Pro honors in his final year with the team. According to the reporting, as a rookie Young became the first AFC player to make the Pro Bowl as a special-teams player who was not a return specialist, a distinction that marked an early shift in how linebacker versatility was valued league-wide.
Young appeared in 101 regular-season games for the Seahawks with 79 starts before a contract dispute led to his 1988 trade to the Indianapolis Colts, for whom he played three seasons. He has been included on the Seahawks' list of the top 50 players in franchise history, per Yahoo Sports.
Fredd Young, a foundational Seahawks linebacker and four-time Pro Bowl selection, dies at 64.
Young's career, compressed into four Seattle seasons, redefined the special-teams linebacker role at a time when such assignments typically marked a player's periphery, not his primary value. His Pro Bowl selections and All-Pro honor stand as the statistical record of that shift.
Sports, checked.
Sources
Single-source report. As published, only Yahoo Sports had reported this development. No independent outlet had corroborated it.
Also reported by NBC Sports, New Mexico State University Athletics, NFL Rumors, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Independent coverage of the same development, found by search; not this story's sources.
No betting advice.